November 8, 2007 BEING A PART OF HISTORY… The past sometimes catches up with you when you are least aware of its approach. I got a book the other day which brought some of my past rushing up to me with the speed of a photon. I had seen my name and some of my past in previous books, of course, mainly in the biographies of Charles Bukowski, Neeli Cherkovski’s Hank, and Charles Bukowski, Locked in the arms of a crazy life, by Howard Soames. And, I get a lot of inquiries from other writers about that time of my life when Bukowski and I were friends, both publishing our poetry in the literary journals. Some who call on me are writing theses for their PhDs. One of the latter published his book and that’s the one I now have. It was written by Jeff Weddle, who is an assistant professor at the University of Alabama. He had asked me questions about my association with Jon Edgar Webb, now deceased, and his wife, Louise “Gypsy Lou.” Now, the book, published in hardcover by the University of Mississippi Press, in Jackson. It is a remarkable book and brought back many memories of the Webbs and Bukowski and their first venture into the literary field, the journal The Outsider. I was their West Coast editor for that first historical issue, and that led to their interest in Bukowski’s poetry. Jon and Gypsy Lou lived in New Orleans and they put together Bukowski’s first serious poetry collections, all on a hand-fed press. The papere was exquisite, decal-edged, in various colors, heavy stock, 64 lb. covers as I recall. These books brought Bukowski international attention and also attracted publisher John Martin of Black Sparrow Press to pursue Hank and become his publisher, adding further to Bukowski’s fame all over the world. Weddle’s book captures that early history and illuminates the genuius of Webb that is intertwined with the literary history of New Orleans. The book’s title is: Bohemian New Orleans, subtitled The Story of The Outsider and Loujon Press. In its brief life, Loujon Press stood out above all the other small press publishers and blazed a trail across the literary firmament that is visible to this day. I was impressed with Weddle’s research and his scholarship. He interviewed not only Gypsy Lou, but Jon Webb Jr. and many others. He portrayed the whirlwind of those times that many of us were caught up in, not realizing that we were making literary history, walking with giants, marking paths for others to follow. This is an exciting book that illuminates a little-known period of literary history. It feels strange to be a part of that history. It all seems so unreal now, and none of us, except perhaps for Jon Webb and Gypsy Lou, realized what an impact those times would have on so many people. RECENT HISTORY, AS IF IT MATTERS EVEN ONE WHIT… Last month, I conducted my Scene & Story Workshop at the Tyler Public Library in Tyler, Texas. There were 39 writers in attendance. The entire project was put together by Evelyn James who handles such projects for the library. The workshop was free and I furnished copies of my Workbook to all who attended. A week later, I spent all day at Mineola High School in Mineola, Texas, in their library. Classes came in from the high school and middle school classes were bussed over to listen to what I had to say. I was impressed with the students and teachers. I had been there the year before, but no middle school students had attended. These students were by far the most attentive, most eager to learn and many had already ventured into writing short stories. Joy Stuart was the librarian who put this one together. She took Charlotte and me to lunch with Vickie Williams, the middle school librarian, at the Country Club. We were there from 8 in the morning until 4 in the afternoon when the last bell sounded.. Joy spread the word to her colleagues at other schools in other towns, and next year they will hold forth in a larger venue with students and teachers from many other schools in attendance. I have agreed to be there for that one. This past week I got a call from a major university asking me to speak at a conference next March, and I accepted. More about that later. On the 19th of October, I got up a little before midnight. I was surprised to walk into the living room and see that Charlotte was still up, sitting on the couch. “What are you doing up?” I asked. She stretched her arms, yawned and said: “I must have fallen asleep.” I said good night to her and walked out to my office. A little after midnight I got a call from my son, Marc. “Happy Birthday, Dad,” he said. “What are you doing up so late?” I asked. “Just up late. Wanted to call you.” “What are you doing?” I asked. “Having a beer,” he said. Then, I heard Michelle, his ex-wife yelling “Happy Birthday” in the background. She took the phone and asked if I had been spanked yet. I told her I had not. She said she was going to come down and give me a spanking. Then, Charlotte chimed in. “Happy Birthday,” she said, with a laugh. “What is this a conference call?” I asked. “No,” she said. It was then that I got very confused. I asked Charlotte if she was in Branson. That’s how befuddled I was. “Come on into the house,” she said. “Marc and Michelle are here.” It took me several bewildered moments to untangle the confusing messages. I walked the 80 or 90 feet to the house and of course, there they were, Marc and Michelle and Charlotte, all bright-eyed and full of glee. My daughter Misty had sent me a Visa gift card with $50.00 on it. So, we drove to Longview for lunch at the Red Lobster and I paid for lunch with Misty’s gift card, plus a few extra dollars for the tip and overage. I turned 75 years old on October 20th, and, like all birthdays of late, this one was most memorable. RECENT PUBLICATIONS AND CURRENT PROJECTS… I got a lot of fan mail from readers of BLOOD SKY AT MORNING, the first in the Shadow Rider series from Harper. The gripping story didn’t end in that book and readers used to having all the loose ends tied up were up in arms about this one. Well, now the rest of the story has been told, and is in APACHE SUNDOWN, Book #2 of SHADOW RIDER. The chase is over and all loose ends are neatly tied up. Earlier, Berkley published THE SUNDOWN MAN, which I hoped would attract younger readers. I am assured by the fan mail that the book is indeed a Young Adult novel. I hope it finds it way into high school libraries, and some early reports tell me that this is the case. Upcoming in early December is SANTA FE SHOWDOWN, the 2nd novel in THE VIGILANTE series from Berkley. My editor sent me an advance copy this week and I sent it to the woman to whom I dedicated the book, Midge Rosenbaum. Her husband Ray was a writer I helped get an agent and get published, and we all had many great times together before he died. Midge doesn’t know about the dedication yet. But, I hope it reminds her of all that she and Ray meant to me and Charlotte. He got a late start in a writing career and there was certainly a lot of resistance towards his venture into novel writing. But, he learned quickly and he wrote exceptionally well. I helped him with a few minor things, but he had the touch and the passion. Ray was a bomber pilot in WWII, Korea and Vietnam. He ghosted a book on Amelia Earhart and I was happy to be instrumental in getting him in touch with the agent. She didn’t want him, of course, so I had Ray send her a piece he had written about those last hours before Earhart lost contact with the world. Then, Ray flew down to Texas to meet with the man who had new information about Earhart and closed the deal himself. The piece Ray wrote put you in the cockpit with Amelia and her navigator. When you read it, you felt every bump, every tense moment of that final flight. Now, I am working on a fantasy novel, which I am proposing as an 8-book series. Each book will be from 1000-1200 pages in manuscript. I have no agent and am looking for one who believes in me and handles fantasy novels. I also have a single YA fantasy that I am passionate to write, and again, am hunting down an agent. I can only ask one agent at a time to represent me, although there are a handful I am anxious to contact. I wrote a letter to one agent I know slightly who is with a very large and prestigious agency. I have an intro to another at a great agency and then there is an agent I know fairly well who has represented several friends and still represents some of the best writers I know. But, I will wait until I hear from the first one before deciding which one to write next. I find myself in an odd predicament. Tor is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, publishers of Sci-Fi and Fantasy in the world. And, Tor is my publisher. But, I am changing horses in midstream. Will they trust me to write huge fantasy novels? Do they think I am too old to begin a long-term project? I don’t know, but I have a blog about age discrimination in publishing. But, I don’t know if such discrimination exists or is just a vicious rumor that’s going around. And, I don’t care. I’m happy writing a good book and I have no fear that it will be published somewhere, sometime, with or without an agent. For I believe every book has a home and I’ll find that home. I always have and there’s no reason to change my thinking at this late date. The novel is very complex. There is a large number of characters. There is a lot of story. I think I’ve finally found my true calling, in fact. Every novel is an adventure, of course, but this one is so exciting I have to exert great will to abandon it for such necessities as food and sleep. Will let you know how this particular adventure turns out. Just don’t hold your breath. There’s a lot of ground to cover on his journey. And, I mean to cover it. Keep reading. Keep writing. Jory Sherman